THESE CHAPTERS ARE NO LONGER CANON, THE ONLY REASON THEY ARE HERE IS BECAUSE I WANT TO PRESERVE THINGS. FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS AND MOVE ON TO THE ACTUAL STORY IN CHAPTER 3 ONWARDS. THINK OF THIS AS A FIRST DRAFT, NONE OF THIS HAS ANY EFFECT ON THE REAL STORY. THANK YOU FOR READING.
Chapter 1: Warrior Spirit
BROK was right, Fimbulwinter had come. The snow had piled up; it became harder to traverse Midgard, and more Hel-walkers seemed to roam around than 3 winters ago. But Atreus knew this would happen, after all, he was there when it started.
After he and Kratos scattered his mothers' ashes, and after they returned home he trained harder than ever before. Father told him that the Ragnarok was coming, and he had to be ready when it did. As part-Giant, part-god, and part-mortal (his father always reminded him of that fact) Atreus was a powerful deity that even his father did not know the upper limit of. But what his father did know was that he had potential. So they trained, Atreus perfected his use of the bow and arrow, he was taught how to better use his agile form to gain a leg up on others bigger and stronger than him and learned how to create a conduit for his rage like his father.
Most importantly, he learned how to shape-shift. When Atreus first did it, it was by accident. He woke up as a wolf and Mimir was so frightened that he fell off of the stool he was put on the previous night. It was safe to say that morning was a bit awkward trying to revert back.
But training wasn't all they did during the last 3 winters. Kratos told him about the life he lived decades ago before he met his wife Faye. Kratos was the God of War in a far off land called Greece, and he killed his wife and daughter. Kratos told his story, a summarization of how he ended up in Midgard. How he vowed revenge on the god called Ares and his subsequent betrayal from his father Zeus. And finally how he killed his pantheon in his search for revenge.
Kratos had let go of his sins, he was a new man…a new god. Unchained to his past, Kratos strived to do everything he could to prepare his son for the inevitable day he would lay down his life for his son. But that day hadn't come, and now Kratos would have to focus on the present.
"Hold the sword up higher; you must always be prepared for the enemy to strike,"Kratos told Atreus as he held a sword in a fighting stance.
"Geez, it's pretty heavy. I thought swords were supposed to glide through the air."Atreus said, repositioning himself as he stared down a dummy.
"Common misconception little brother, real swords are hefty. The kind of blade you are referring to isn't meant to strike steel, they're kinda like a long knife except fragile."Mimir remarked as he hung from Kratos belt.
The three were out behind their home teaching Atreus how to hold a sword. Many winters of watching his father had given Atreus the wrong idea, and his use of a knife did not aid his skill with a true sword.
"A sword is a tool, one you will rely heavily on in your battles. It can deflect attacks and open an enemy to its blade. With proper training, you can exploit your weapons greatest talents."Kratos had been a soldier for a long time even before he vowed revenge against Ares. He had seen many manners of swordsman, from gladiators who fought in arenas to those who took sword fighting as an art. "Like what?" Atreus asked as he swung downward.
"I once met a swordsman who was skilled enough to cut and arrow in half. He told me it took many years to practice that skill, and many more to perfect it."Atreus looked up from his training dummy, "Whoa really? That's so cool, how can he even think that fast?"
"Focus,"Kratos said curtly. Atreus panicked a little before returning to his practice. "You know brother, the lass has been doing this for a few hours. Maybe it's time for a break, just a little sitting around?"Mimir suggested, "Atreus has much to learn, he will continue his training. But, I see no harm in some water."
Kratos made to stand when a large crash was heard inside the house, "What was that?" Atreus asked as he lowered his sword. "Stay behind me." Kratos pulled out his Leviathan Axe and approached the front side of his house.
He heard whispers inside, rushed and frenzied. "On my mark, aim your bow."Atreus nodded and notched an arrow onto his bow prepared to fire.
Kratos tensed ready to kick down his door when it flung open revealing-
"Sindri!?"Atreus asked in shock.
"I told you we should have walked here!"Brok's voice could be heard from behind as he walked forward.
"What are you doing here?"Kratos asked with a hint of irritation.
"I am so sorry, we didn't know where exactly to find you. We went to Niflheim, Muspelheim-"
"We've been looking for you all day, we need your help, "Brok said frankly.
"Need our help, for what?"Atreus asked. "Freya has taken residence in the travel room in Tyr's temple, she kicked us out."
"Freya, but how?"Atreus asked, "Well, the spear she jabbed at us is a pretty good reason."Brok said.
"Impossible, she can't harm anyone. Odin made sure she could never pick up a weapon again."Mimir chimed in.
"Well, she didn't really give us an explanation how when she literally kicked us out,"Sindri said. "Do you know what she was doing there?"Kratos asked.
"Not a clue, she just came in one minute and yelled at us to get out. Those wings of hers weren't very clean so I agreed immediately."Sindri gagged a little.
"Wings?"Atreus asked. "Oh no, that's not good," Mimir said. Kratos pulled Mimir up to face him. "Explain head."
"Before Freya was banished from Asgard, Freya was honorably the head of the Valkyrie. She learned how to fight like them during her time in Asgard and was a fierce fighter. If she has her wings back it must mean she recovered her warrior spirit and broke Odin's spell. This is not good."Mimir explained.
"We have to talk to her."Atreus turned to Kratos. "She does not wish to speak to us; we are the last people she'd want to see."Kratos reminded his son.
"I don't give a damn what you do, we need to get back to our shop without being killed!"Brok made a big fuss.
"No,"Kratos said sternly.
"Father, please, she might be angry with us but I just know we can get through to her."Atreus pleaded. "I said no, she is too dangerous to speak to."Kratos hung his axe in its sheath.
"Please, we have to do something. We did this to her, we could at least make an attempt to apologize. You know how she feels better than anyone else."Kratos froze as he turned away. What did he feel like when he realized he killed his family? Grief. Anger. All sorts of suffering he had yet to experience so early in his life. Yes, he knew how the goddess felt, and he was responsible.
"We will go-"Kratos started, "Yes!"Atreus pumped his arm. "But if she proves more trouble than she's worth than we are leaving."Kratos continued.
"That's all I'm asking for; a chance is all we need," Atreus said, his smile was big and bright for one who helped in the killing of said Freya's own son.
"Well, are you done pattin' urselves on the fuckin' back? We have a shop to maintain and customers to appease!"Brok yelled. "He meant to say thank you,"Sindri said as the two dwarves disappeared behind a shelf.
"Are you sure about this brother?"Mimir asked as the trio made their way to the door to the Yggdrasil tree. "No, but we will try none the less." Kratos opened the door as it formed and stepped inside.
Atreus ran inside looking around, "It's been a while since we've traveled like this, I almost forgot what it was like inside here." Atreus crouched near the ledge they jumped down to find the Jotenheim tower.
"Be careful lass, no need to throw your life away just yet."Mimir warned, "I know, it's just that the void looks so cool."Kratos gave a small sigh as the door to Brok's shop appeared behind them.
"Let's go, boy."Kratos motioned to the door as the both of them returned to Midgard. "Alright, before we go in we should have a plan," Mimir suggested.
"We go in and talk to her. What's so hard about that?"Atreus asked. "Well, Freya might not be the kind of person to talk at first sight right now, especially with how mad she is at us,"Mimir responded.
"Freya is a warrior; she will not listen to us easily. We may have to use force."Kratos said as the three made it to the door.
"Oh, go in swinging? What a fascinating plan, if you do try that method I highly suggest leaving me here. I don't plan on losing the rest of me now."Mimir complained. Kratos was quick to ignore him and open the temple door.
In the middle of the room was a woman in a set of ornate gold armor with 2 massive wings and a large bladed-staff. "Work damn you!" Freya was hovering over the pedestal with a Bifrost.
"Freya!"Atreus shouted. Freya stood still; her shoulders fell as she turned around. Her face betrayed her body language, she was angry and there was practically a fire in her eyes.
"You should not be here," Freya said in a deep voice.
"Brok and Sindri said you kicked them out of their shop. We had to talk to you."Atreus took a step forward but the scowl on Freya's face persuaded him to stop.
"We wish to talk,"Kratos said Freya fixed her gaze to him. "Talk? Why should I listen to you? I remember you denying my wishes not too long ago."Her grip on her staff clenched harder.
"We know you're mad-"Atreus started before being cut off, "Mad? Mad doesn't compare to the wrath I shall bring upon your father when I'm done with him. You should leave; you still have a chance to be better than him."She spits the last word out with venom.
"You walk a path of revenge; I know that path too well. It is not too late to step off of it."Kratos advised her, "Ironic coming from you. When you came to my cabin I knew only that you were a god, I should have known who you were. The God of War, from Greece, I've heard stories about you. How you mercilessly killed your pantheon and let it in ruin. I didn't know it was you the day I met you, I see now why you bring suffering to everyone you meet."
"He's a different person!"Atreus shouted in defense of his father, "Boy, I will deal with this."Kratos said.
"Not going to neglect who you were? You must take pride in the misery you sow, let me be the one who ends it."She slammed her staff into the ground twice before taking a combat position.
"This fight is not yours."Kratos said as he pulled out his Leviathan Axe, "But-"
"Heed your father, Atreus, this is between us."Freya's wings expanded as she quickly flew to Kratos.
Kratos' shield and Freya's staff collided in a spark, "I will end your miserable life."Freya growled out as she pushed off the shield back into the air.
Freya spun her staff, electricity came running off of it and made its way to Kratos who dodged it quickly. Kratos dashed to Freya and threw his axe ahead of him bringing Freya to the ground. He took out the Blades of Chaos and attacked.
Each swing of the blades built up the fire inside the weapon, causing Freya to grit her teeth against the damage her body took from it. She spun the blunt end of her staff to hit Kratos underneath his chin, disorienting him and spun it again to back him up against the pedestal in the center.
Kratos summoned his axe again and made a few swipes against Freya, a few hits before she deflected the last away from her. Kratos sharply raised his axe upwards and brought Freya into the air again before quickly slamming her down again.
Freya flew up from underneath Kratos, both in the air above the pedestal. Freya punched and raked Kratos against the ceiling before feeling a sharp pain in her back, "Let him go!"She turned to see Atreus had let loose an arrow and was readying to notch another.
Before Freya could speak Kratos slammed his fist to her face disorienting her and causing her to lose control. Kratos punched her a few more times making them fall to the ground. Kratos summoned his axe and wound back ready to throw, but as he did Freya dodged the axe and it slammed into the pedestal causing sparks to rise from it.
As the two gods crashed into the ground opposite each other Atreus approached his father, "Are you alright?"He said with concern. "I am fine boy, you should not have interfered,"Kratos said.
There was a loud groan emanating from the room, where it was coming from specifically Atreus didn't know. "That doesn't sound good," Atreus commented.
"No, it does not."Mimir agreed.
Freya started to stand and looked back at where Kratos' axe fell; it had lodged itself into the pedestal while the Bifrost was still connected. "Oh no," Freya commented.
On cue, the room spun quickly trying to a realm to travel to. It started to spin faster, so fast it knocked the three off their feet. The beam that usually came to interact with the realm stones shot out hitting nothing but the walls around the room.
"How do we stop it!?"Atreus asked loudly, "Try removing the Bifrost!"Mimir said from Kratos' hip.
Kratos pulled Atreus close and started to crawl toward the pedestal where Freya tried desperately to stand up again. Kratos inched closer and closer, crossing the wooden bridge that lied in between. As Kratos stood up to reach for the Bifrost Freya was there to grab his hand and pull it away.
"You will not!"Freya yelled. Kratos could only force his hand towards the Bifrost as the other was occupied keeping him up straight. Kratos reached ever closer but before he could grab it a loud boom vibrated across the room and the wall behind him was gone. The force pulling Kratos away from the Bifrost was so great even he had not felt anything like it.
Kratos finally got his hands on the crystal, but the force pulling his was too great and he along with Atreus was sucked in. Kratos quickly pulled out one of his Blades of Chaos and sunk it into the floor before being fully sucked in.
In front of him, Freya's wings had finally got the best of her as she was forcefully pulled by the excess wind leaving the chamber. She was dragged back towards the father and son and detangled them.
"Atreus!"Kratos shouted for and jumped to save his son. All of them fell out, but as Kratos tried to reach them his vision was obscured by what he could only think of as clouds.
Kratos dove as fast as he could to where he last saw them but as soon as he broke the layer of clouds he could not see them. The only thing in his vision was a forest of some kind; Kratos quickly prepared for a hard landing and extended his shield fully.
"Brace brother!"Mimir yelled as the two crashed into the ground.
Kratos slowly got back up, groaning while he did. Finally standing tall Kratos summoned his axe only to find it not coming. "It seems it is back in Midgard,"Mimir spoke up.
Kratos looked around; this did not look like any of the realms he had been to. "Head, where are we?"Kratos asked.
"I have no earthly clue, we could be anywhere in all the 9 realms with how crazy the temple was going. We can only explore and see where we are."Kratos silently agree and started making his way towards a direction.
It wasn't long before he started to hear noises, he walked further and further before seeing a tree line. Making his way towards the end of the forest Kratos pushed pass a small shrub and seeing what was ahead of him.
"Well, what do you see?"Kratos reached towards Mimir to show him. "Oh…that."
Ahead of them were things not even Kratos had ever seen. Marvelous towers that touched the sky, the noise emanating from the city was staggering. Machines moved down paths of stone and water surrounded the other end of the city, even separating the lands with even more stone paths connecting them together.
There are probably a single handful of times Kratos was left dumbfounded, this was one of them.
Above Kratos, thunder and lightning cracked across the sky. He didn't know why, but Kratos felt as if he had returned home. Returned to his pantheon.
Return to the Homestead
Chapter 2: Strangers in a Strange Land
ATREUS never fell this far before. There was that time when he, his father, and Balder fell into Helheim but that was different, they were falling along the ground (if that made sense). When Atreus opened his eyes, he had literally fallen to the ground…hard. Atreus felt very sore when he got back up, his shoulders ached and his back cried in pops. He looked around; he was on a beach with a wooden pier sticking out from the land.
Before moving, Atreus inspected his gear (a ritual his father taught him any time before venturing out). His bow seemed well enough a few tugs on the string affirmed that his quiver was a little wet, and his clothes weren't damaged in anyway Atreus could perceive. So with a quick pat down, Atreus made haste towards the small sand mount in front of him.
The sand wasn't too bad; a few slip ups but nothing too bad. When Atreus got over the sand, he was in awe of the sight before him. A city stood with towers that would reach the heights of dragons would soar in. The towers themselves reflected the sun and sky like glass, in between were numerous amounts of people more than he'd ever seen in his life. The city was massive if it even was a city. Was this Asgard? Or maybe this was Valhalla (he hoped it wasn't Valhalla)? The only thing he could do was walk in and ask.
His father would have chided him for doing something so brazen without thought. But this was different, a place he or his father (maybe) never gone to. Walking amongst the people was…weird. All of them wore very weird clothes, some wore similar dark or grey clothes with a coat of some sort, some wore tight clothing, and some wore very little clothes. But what brought them all together were there ignorance of him, some sort of brick they held in their hands, and their need to go somewhere else.
"Excuse me, can I ask you-" Before Atreus finished the man he was talking to said something and left. From the way his face scrunched together it was clear he wasn't entertaining any conversation with Atreus.
So he walked up to another person, "Excuse, do you-"This time the woman said something with a sadden look and patted his cheek before pulling something out of her bag (? It was a shiny black with weird patterns) and dropped a green cloth in his hands before leaving.
Maybe this was Asgard; he had never seen an outfit so blinding his life. The green cloth was another thing entirely. On one side was a face, the other side was some sort of rectangular building. Atreus had no idea what to do with it, but the lady gave it to him without asking so maybe it was a gift? Just in case Atreus pocketed the cloth before moving on.
Walking with these people were weird, they were always going somewhere without acknowledging the metal contraptions beside them. It scared Atreus every time one of those things gave off a blaring sound, which was then accompanied by several more (occasionally with shouting).
But as he moved with the people, he couldn't help but noticed how many times he was struck down from a conversation, looked upon with what seemed like pity, or outright ignored. Was there something about him that made them not want to speak to him? His clothes may have been made by smiths but that wouldn't really be the reason to ignore him…right?
Atreus sat on what seemed like a metal bench in a grassland in between the metal or brick towers. After trying to speak to more than a dozen people, he was tired that nothing was working. So here he was taking in the scenery around him, a lake lay further ahead of him with animals swimming in it, people walked and semi-ran on its paths.
"What is with these people?"Atreus gave an explosive sigh before slinking into the bench shutting his eyes.
"They aren't like us, child."Atreus' eyes widened and in seconds he had notched an arrow ready to hit its target, Freya.
"There is no need for drawing an arrow on me. I don't mean to cause you harm."Freya's wings were folded behind her, with her spear slung over her shoulder.
"You certainly didn't act like that when my father tried to talk to you."Atreus kept his arrow notched, Freya may have been a friend before but her actions at Tyr's temple gave him pause.
"Your father is an animal that needs to be put down, but you have a chance to live without him hanging over you."
Atreus looked at her as if she grew a horn, "I will never betray him."
The life you live is not one where many 'heroes' live in the end. Eventually, you will reach an impasse, and you must decide between yourself and your father. I hope you know which to choose?" Freya asked.
Atreus pondered, his father once told him that if it came between one of them, his father would not hesitate to die for him. But could Atreus alone make that decision? Sure they've had their differences, but they became a strong team, no enemy was unbeatable with them combined…none yet that is.
"I won't let him die; I'll fight right beside him until the end."Atreus declared.
"Your faith is misplaced child, you will come around sometime. But for now, I say we should figure out where we are exactly." Freya looked up and around the land.
The glass towers continued to surround the duo for as long as they've been here. Atreus begrudgingly agreed, where they were and how best to find his father and Mimir was still a mystery.
"I've never seen anything like this, it's so….something."Atreus really couldn't put a finger on an adequate description of this place.
"In all my time, I have never seen a place like this before. Only Asgard and Valhalla could come only slightly close to the scale of this place." Freya remarked as she joined Atreus.
"So, what do we do? I've tried talking to people but they speak a language I've never heard of, it sounds so weird. I bet Mimir would be able to tell."
"Mimir is a man of much knowledge if anyone was able to understand these people it would be him. But he isn't here now. Let us go, and see if we can't do something ourselves." Freya and Atreus started making their way in a random direction, with only hope to guide them towards any sense of where they landed.
NEW YORK
"WHERE are we?" Kratos asked.
"I might be 'Mimir, smartest man alive!' but even I don't know where we are," Mimir admitted.
Kratos sighed, latching Mimir to the back of his hip Kratos started making his way towards the city in front of him. The walk to his destination was an odd one, occasionally one of the metal automatons would speed past Kratos. He had never seen such things in his life before, even in his time in Greece nothing compared to these things.
The trek was moderately long, and as he entered the city Kratos' understanding of the people here shrunk.
People walked everywhere; the automatons were generally slow or full stopped in lines. The people themselves were weird too, but Kratos wasn't fixated on them. As he walked around he noted plenty of buildings in tall square-like structures. They reached higher than any other buildings Kratos ever saw, barring Mount Olympus.
"Can you read these?" Kratos asked as he brought up Mimir's head.
"Hm, I can get the general understanding of some more than others. It looks like some kind of English." Mimir answered.
"English?" The word was not easy to pronounce for Kratos. He has traveled far and wide before making his way to his home in the north, but English was not anything he heard of.
"It's an old language from the west, from a place called England. I once served a lord or two in my time there, they were quite full of themselves might I add."
"What do you know of this 'England'?" Kratos asked.
"Well, they rule by Kings and Queens, castles, and knights and whatnot. But this is no part of England I've never seen. Let's keep walking; maybe we'll spot something we can use." Kratos nodded as he held up Mimir and continued to walk.
As Kratos passed by people, they'd occasionally glance at him with mild curiosity before leaving. But Kratos ignored them as he continued to move, with a sense growing ever so bigger as he made his way deeper into the city.
That feeling continued to grow bigger and bigger, a feeling that traveled down his spine. "Do you feel that?" Kratos asked.
"Um, no…I think." Mimir, once again, was no help to Kratos as he continued to walk.
As he was walking, Kratos stopped. The feeling felt close, very close. So as Kratos turned to face it he was in front of a very tall building. But this one felt different, it felt…similar.
"Something you want to see?" Mimir asked.
"No, I certainly don't." Kratos turned from the building, the faster he got away from this feeling the better.
The skies grew a darker color that morning, weather forecasters were duped by the sudden appearance of thunder and lightning that permeated the skies. And above them all, a certain King of the Gods couldn't help but feel a shiver down his spine that day.